The most interesting and innovative idea to come out of the first meeting of the all-party Special Committee on Electoral Reform, or ERRE, was Nathan Cullen’s suggestion, seconded by Elizabeth May, to allow members of the public access to question the expert witnesses before the committee in real time via email or twitter […]

By Frank Moher Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad the Wicked Witch is dead, and may now return to his true calling running far right-wing lobbying organizations and sitting on the boards of oil companies. However, I voted strategically to ensure that happened, and, even though the local candidate I voted for won, I am […]

By Montreal Simon The other day I wrote a post where I asked, or begged our progressive leaders to elevate their game. To go big or go home. And make the struggle to defeat the Harper Cons a larger struggle to save Canada and its values. And I have to say that last night in […]

Stephen Harper: “My fellow Canadians: for the second time this week, there has been a brutal and violent attack on our soil. Today our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Cpl. Nathan Cirillo of the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Cpl. Cirillo was killed today — murdered in cold blood — as he provided […]

By Montreal Simon He waited until late Friday afternoon to announce that the Cons had ratified their controversial trade deal with China. Hoping that most people wouldn’t notice. Ottawa confirms it has ratified a foreign investment treaty with China, more than two years after the controversial agreement was signed, as CBC News first reported Friday. […]

By Frank Moher I joined the Liberal Party in order to vote in the leadership thing. Having done so, I will now duly unjoin. The idea of me being a Liberal is ridiculous. I am sufficiently an Albertan (albeit ex) of a certain age (getting on) to regard the Liberals as the party of the […]

By Frank Moher Previously on The Plan, I explained why, despite the depredations of the current federal government, the Canadian political universe is unfolding as it should — or at least as I hoped it would when I was a young journalist in Alberta in the 1980s. The Harperites are doing what they can to […]

By Alison@Creekside Just a 2% increase in the popular vote took the Cons from 143 seats in 2008 to a 167 seat majority tonight, thanks to our fucked up first-past-the-post system and because of what happened in key ridings in Ontario where presumably the Lib voters moved over to the Cons: ie., in Toronto the […]

We’ve invited backofthebook.ca’s chief bloggers to let us know how they plan to vote in the federal election, and why. Below, Eric Pettifor reports in from Vancouver. If we used the Australian system of preferential voting, I would vote on Tuesday as follows: Green NDP Liberal Satan and his Minions Party Conservative Note: #4 assumes […]